The war in Ukraine has been going on for fifty days and many refugees have been away from home for more than a month. While the end of the battle in their homeland still seems far away, life goes on.
This also applies to Olga Perekhodko from Marhanets, a place not far from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which has been besieged and taken by the Russians. For ten days she was traveling to get away. A month ago she arrived in Grolloo, 2,500 kilometers from her home in Ukraine.
Olga now resides with the Heling family, consisting of father Richard, mother Sandra, daughter Ilse and son Guus. But Olga did not come alone. She is in Drenthe with her sister Oletta, mother-in-law Svetlana, niece Anastasiia and 1-year-old son Mark.
For thirty days the household in Grolloo has therefore not consisted of four, but of nine people. It took some getting used to in the beginning, but now it’s going very well.
“We are very grateful that we can stay here, the people in Drenthe are so nice to us. It’s just a bit cold here now and then,” says Olga with a smile.
The Heling family has, as it were, divided their house in two. Their Ukrainian guests have their own living room, bedroom and bathroom. According to host Richard Heling, that works well.
“I think it is very important that everyone has enough privacy. They regularly call home, then it is nice if you have your own place. That also applies to ourselves. If you only have a bedroom to go back to pulling, it’s going to be very tough.”
Facebook and Google proved invaluable over the past month. The Dutch family can communicate with the Ukrainian housemates via a translation app on the smartphone.
When something is needed, such as a high chair for little Mark, a social media appeal is enough to get others moving. Richard: “We have seen that people really want to help. That is very nice.”
Despite being well taken care of, Olga and her family still prefer to return home. To the rest of the family, because not everyone could or wanted to go abroad. No one knows how long that will last.
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